Most conventional vending and money changing machines that accept paper money are designed to process one bill at a time. The problem with these machines is that they become inadequate if the value of the purchase requires more than one bill, as in the case of bus, air, or railway fares.
A typical conventional bill escrow and storage apparatus used with vending machines is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,931 (Wyckoff), which issued on Mar. 15, 1977. The Wyckoff patent discloses an apparatus for handling paper money in a vending or money changing machine, in which a validator unit either accepts or rejects an inserted bill. Each accepted bill is moved a short distance by a conveyor to a handling station, where a ram pushes the bill into an escrow box in which the bill is held until the associated transaction is completed. When the transaction is complete, the ram pushes the bill through the escrow box into a stacker or storage vault. If the transaction is not completed, the escrow box swings down and the bill is ejected for return to the customer.
One known attempt at processing multiple bills in a vending or money changing machine is the Banknote Processing System sold by Sodeco-SAIA Ltd. of Geneva, Switzerland. This system includes an escrow unit which may be used either in direct collection mode or in intermediate collection mode. In the latter case, up to ten notes may be provisionally stored on a drum. If, for example, a customer should realize that he or she has not enough money to reach the amount required or change his or her mind and decide to cancel the transaction, then it is possible for the user to interrupt the sales process and have the deposited bills returned in the form of a wad. If the transaction takes place, the bills are directed to the final cash box, where they are stacked and kept in complete security.
Whatever the merits of the above-cited known forms of vending apparatus, they lack the ability for handling multiple bills of varying denominations in accomplishing a variety of complex vending transaction so as to satisfy customers' needs.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to enable simplified and efficient transfer of multiple bills from a handling station to an escrow box and then to a vault or storage means within a vending machine or the like.
A further object is to provide an arrangement for efficiently and conveniently returning a plurality of bills to a customer when the transaction has been cancelled for any reason.
Another object is to insure absolute security of the money vault, particularly as to guaranteeing that the processing of bills can only commence if the vault has been locked into the machine.
The present invention also provides many additional advantages which shall become apparent as described below.